Texas Gov. Perry coming to California to recruit business

AUSTIN, Texas — Gov. Rick Perry plans to visit California next week to follow up on a small buy of radio ads intended to persuade businesses to relocate to Texas.

Perry is scheduled to fly to the West Coast on Sunday and will meet with executives in San Francisco, the Silicon Valley, Los Angeles and Orange County. A marketing company, using private money, bought $24,000 worth of radio time to air an ad in which the Republican governor says, "I hear building a business in California is next to impossible."

The governor's office says he will meet with business leaders in the high tech, biotechnology, financial, insurance and film industries.

California Gov. Jerry Brown, a Democrat, has dismissed the ad buy as insignificant in a state where millions are needed to saturate the market. His office released a statement citing data that shows business relocations have no significant impact on either state's economy.

Brown called the radio ads just "a few tricks from a politician" and will not have any substantive effect.

Perry prides himself on keeping taxes low, limiting regulations and restricting lawsuits to create a better business climate. He uses the slogan, "Texas, Wide Open for Business." But his critics point out that Texas has the highest percentage of workers without health insurance in the nation and averages among the lowest scores on college admissions exams.